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Saturday, May 10, 2014

Heat still on in Madre de Dios

The powers that be in Peru are still chasing illegal miners by whatever means possible. The protests and road blockades have ceased while heavy machinery has been reported moved out of the area by the cartel.

The state controls the media and have clamped down on what comes out of the area. It is not a situation to be ignored if a body has capital at stake in the country. The longer interdiction continues the more likely it is the cartel will respond. Estimates put more than $ 7b of gold coming from Madre de Dios over the past decade. The Peru president is at all time low approval ratings and this operation is causing great hardship for the 40,000 peasant miners in the area.

(Translated) "Two heavy trucks to transport 9000 gallons of oil each were operated in the Madre de Dios region. Effective performed this operation at kilometer 342 of the Inter-Oceanic Highway, because the units did not have authorization to travel in areas governing illegal mining."

"A new poll carried out by Ipsos Perú has revealed that only 27% of Peruvians approve of President Ollanta Humala. This is the lowest Humala’s approval rating has ever been, and shows a 2% drop from August poll results.

Respondents to the poll cited a number of reasons for their disappointment with the president. According to El Comercio, 67% of those polled believe that Humala is a “liar” and he “doesn’t keep his promises.” 49% reported that they felt that Humala’s governance has led to a drop in citizen safety, and 39% blamed Humala for the rising prices in the country.